Why Falcons' Arthur Smith Wasn't Happy After Tie vs. Bengals

Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith was not pleased with his team's performance after "self-inflicted wounds" caused them to draw with the Cincinnati Bengals.

It may still be preseason for the Atlanta Falcons, and while the results don't matter in the grand scheme of things, that hasn't prevented coach Arthur Smith from being upset with his team following the 13-13 tie with the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday.

"Ask me Sunday after practice," Smith said following the draw about the performance of his starters. "The thing I wasn't happy about is the pre-snap stuff. That's not who we want to be, self-inflicted wounds. In terms of moving the ball, yeah, I thought that was clean. 'Clean' is not the right word. We were effective, I guess. But we got to come away with more points when you have that many yards, we didn't score enough points.” 

The first and only drive from the Falcons' starting offense may have been the most "effective" as they drove 78 yards on 15 playing while chewing over nine minutes off the clock. 

Yet, after five penalties which cost them 38 yards, the Falcons' offense had nothing to show for the promising drive as a Desmond Ridder pass to Scotty Miller was tipped into the air and intercepted.  

The pre-snap penalties that cost the Falcons potentially a touchdown proved to be a theme, as they couldn't get out of their own way, committing 13 penalties for 102 yards. And the penalties weren't just being called on the younger players, as even veteran offensive guard Chris Lindstrom was called for two holding penalties during the starting offense's 15-play drive. 

Yet, as Smith pointed out, Friday's performance wasn't all bad; penalties aside, the Falcons outgained the Bengals 391 to 280 yards and won the time-of-possession battle by having the ball for over 33 minutes. 

The Falcons have a lot they can hang their hat on from Friday's tie, but also still have room for improvement before they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in their third and final preseason game.

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